100, 75, 50 Years Ago

September 26, 2013

1913 Rheims Prepares for Race

RHEIMS — The roar and rattle of automobiles dashing over the pavement of the usually quiet cathedral square and sleepy streets of Rheims were a noisy reminder that to-day [Sept. 26] visitors had begun to arrive in earnest. The town is assuming that unaccustomed air of animation and excitement which recalls to some of us the memorable aviation meetings of the years 1910 and 1911. All day long aeroplanes have been soaring over the town. There has been a great tuning-up of machines in readiness for the Coupe Internationale d’Aviation on Monday and for the eliminatory races which will take place to-morrow among the French aeroplanes in order to decide which three shall have the honor of upholding the colors of France in this important event.

1938 Britain Warns Hitler

LONDON — Great Britain, tired of hearing ultimatums from Adolf Hitler, tonight [Sept. 26] delivered a stern ultimatum of her own, warning Germany that if she attacked Czechoslovakia “the immediate result must be that France will be bound to come to her assistance and Great Britain and Russia will certainly stand by France.” This communiqué is a trifle stronger and more precise than the previous warnings on the subject. This, then, is giving a brief answer to Hitler’s not too brief radio harangue, in which he affirmed October 1 as “Der Tag” — the day on which he will march his goose-stepping legions out of Germany and into the ancient kingdom of Bohemia, now the most vital province of the post-war nation of Czechoslovakia. Hitler gave Britain and the rest of Europe four days to live in peace, and no more, unless they surrender to him on the manner by which he is to annex Sudetenland. Britain’s defiant answer to this challenge to its pride and prestige and imperial interests is to give Hitler four days to think it over and to back down in whatever face-saving way he and Dr. Goebbels may be able to devise.

1963 Denial of Wiretapping Facility

BONN — The President of the West German Bundestag, or lower house of Parliament, denied tonight [Sept. 26] that an illegal wiretapping facility had been in existence in the Parliament house for ten years. The denial, by Dr. Eugen Gerstenmaier, was given during a heated five-hour meeting of a council of senior Bundestag members. The session had been called to discuss a television report that the wiretapping facility had been installed in 1952 and had been removed only last year. In another development in the controversy that has arisen over the operations of the federal internal security police, a member of the agency, missing from his job for a week, submitted to questioning today by government and Parliamentary officials.